Thomas Cullen Daly (April 25, 1918 – September 18, 2011) was a Canadian film producer, film editor and film director, who was the head of Studio B at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).Ellis 2000, p. 143.

During his 44-year career, Daly produced, edited and/or directed 315 films."NFB pioneer Tom Daly dies at age 93." CBC News September 21, 2011. Retrieved: May 2, 2016. His remarkable awards roster includes eight BAFTA awards, eight Venice Film Festival awards, seven Cannes Film Festival awards and ten Oscar nominations. On April 27, 2000, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Early life Thomas Cullen Daly was the second of three children born to Katherine Cullen Daly and Richard Arthur Daly. His was a prominent family; his mother was a Forest Hill socialite and his father was a stockbroker and founder of R.A. Daly and Company. Tom attended Upper Canada College and then University College, Toronto. There, he sat on the school's Art Committee and, as a member of the College Literary and Athletic Society, acted in and directed plays and musicals, and won first prize for a poem called Musician's Lament. He was also his class president and, in a 1938 address, advised fellow students to “not attempt too much...it is better to do one thing, or a few things, well.”

Daly graduated in 1940 and sought to go into the field of information, or anti-propaganda communication. A year earlier, the Canadian government had created the National Film Board of Canada, which was a perfect fit for Daly's aspirations. He asked his Upper Canada College principal, the very highly regarded Terence MacDermot, for a letter of reference. MacDermot wrote directly to NFB Commissioner John Grierson, telling him that Daly was “A first-rate classical scholar...clever and quick above the average, with a ready pen and refreshing personality....Remember he can create with his pen, and his flair is dramatic. If you can find a place for a possible soldier in that (information) field, I think you would be repaid by his dog-like devotion and talents.” Daly did not see this letter until his retirement party in 1984. But he was hired and, in the fall of 1940, moved to Ottawa.

Career Daly was passionate about assisting in the NFB's war effort. Grierson was taken with his intellect and bookish manner and hired him as a production assistant, jokingly calling him "the best butler in the business", an expression which would serve as the title for film scholar D.B. Jones's decades later book on Daly, The Best Butler in the Business: Tom Daly of the National Film Board of Canada.Brownstein, Bill. "Looking back on the work of Tom Daly." Vancouver Sun, October 5, 2011. Retrieved May 2, 2016. Daly learned the art of film editing from filmmaker Stuart Legg; while he is not credited until 1943, it is likely that Daly worked on some of Legg's 1940-1942 films.

Unit B As head of the NFB's Unit B, Daly was involved in, or responsible for, numerous milestones and achievements in both documentary and animation film art, including Cinéma vérité and Direct Cinema productions.Evans 1984, p. 128. He was also heavily involved in the multi-projector cinematic presentation In the Labyrinth, which eventually led to the development of IMAX. Daly was persuaded to put aside his studio responsibilities for a year and a half to edit In the Labyrinth.

Daly also produced such works as Colin Low's Corral, Wolf Koenig and Roman Kroitor’s Lonely Boy, Koenig and Low's City of Gold, Kroitor and Low's Universe, Arthur Lipsett’s Very Nice, Very Nice, Robin Spry's One Man, and Gerald Potterton’s animated short My Financial Career. Daly also served as executive producer on Candid Eye, a 14-part cinema-vérité series made between 1958 and 1961.Khouri 2007, p. 36.

Daly ran a mixed-discipline studio that included many of the most talented Canadian film-makers of the time, including an animation group with Norman McLaren, Don Arioli, and Robert Verrall; a documentary team including Roman Kroitor and Terence Macartney-Filgate.McInnes 2004, p. 135. Both Colin Low and Wolf Koenig worked at various times in both areas.

Retirement and death In 1980, Daly received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University."Honorary Degree Citation: Tom Daly." Concordia University Archives. Retrieved: May 2, 2016. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000.

He died on September 18, 2011, after a lengthy illness, at the Chateau Westmount residence in Westmount, Quebec."NFB marks death of documentary pioneer Tom Daly." Canada News Wire, September 211, 2011. Retrieved: May 2, 2016.

Filmography All for the National Film Board of Canada

The Gates of Italy - documentary short, Stuart Legg 1943 - co-writer, -editor and -producer with Stuart Legg Battle of Europe - documentary short, Stuart Legg 1944 - co-writer, -editor and -producer with Stuart Legg Inside France - documentary short 1944 - producer, co-director with Stuart Legg Our Northern Neighbour - documentary short 1944 - editor, director Atlantic Crossroads - documentary short 1945 - editor, director, co-producer with Grant McLean Guilty Men - documentary short 1945 - writer, producer, director Ordeal by Ice - documentary short 1945 - producer, director Road to the Reich - documentary short 1945 - writer, producer, director Canada: World Trader - documentary 1946 - producer, director The Challenge of Housing - documentary short 1946 - producer, director Out of the Ruins - documentary short, Nicholas Read 1946 - producer Eye Witness 0: Shipping Milk to Europe, Tuna Fishing, Shipping Grain to Britain, Garden Seed Industry - documentary short 1947 - co-producer with Don Mulholland Eye Witness No. 1: Chalk River, Industrialization in South Africa - documentary short 1947 - co-producer with Don Mulholland The People Between - documentary short, Grant McLean 1947 - producer, editor, co-writer with Grant McLean Canadian International Trade Fair - documentary short, Ronald Dick 1948 - producer Who Will Teach Your Child? - documentary short, Stanley Jackson 1948 - co-producer with Gudrun Parker Hungry Minds - documentary short 1948 - producer, director Yellowknife, Canada - documentary short 1948 - producer, director Children's Concert - documentary, Gudrun Parker 1949 - co-editor with Guy Glover Family Circles - documentary short, Ronald Dick 1949 - co-producer with Gudrun Parker Science at Your Service - documentary short, Ronald Dick 1949 - editor, producer Teeth Are to Keep - animated short, Jim MacKay and Dino Rigolo 1949 - producer On Stage - instructional short, Ronald Dick 1949 - producer 4 Songs by 4 Gentlemen - sing-song film, Michael Spencer 1950 - executive producer Making Primitive Stone Tools - documentary short, Douglas Leechman 1950 - producer The Unadulterated Truth - documentary short, Ron Weyman 1950 - producer Folksong Fantasy - animated puppet film, Alma Duncan 1950 - producer Rhythm and Percussion - documentary, Gudrun Parker 1950 - co-editor with Guy Glover A Friend at the Door - documentary short, Leslie McFarlane 1950 - co-producer with James Beveridge Family Tree - animated short film, George Dunning and Evelyn Lambart 1950 - producer Feelings of Depression - documentary short, Stanley Jackson 1950 - producer Sing a Little - animated puppet film, Jean-Paul Ladoceur and Evelyn Lambart 1951 - producer Sur le Pont d'Avignon - puppet film, Wolf Koenig and Jean-Paul Ladouceur 1951 - producer The Longhouse People - documentary short, Allan Wargon 1951 - producer V for Volunteers - documentary short, Leslie McFarlane 1951 - producer Royal Journey - documentary short, David Bairstow, Gudrun Parker and Roger Blais 1951 - producer Breakdown - documentary, Robert Anderson 1951 - executive producer Caribou Hunters - documentary short, Stephen Greenlees 1951 - producer Pen Point Percussion - documentary short, Norman McLaren 1951 - co-producer with Norman McLaren Canada's Awakening North - documentary short, Ronald Dick 1951 - editor Fighting Forest Fires with Hand Tools - training film, Lawrence Cherry 1951 - producer Fighting Forest Fires with Power Pumps - training film, Lawrence Cherry 1951 - producer Lismer - documentary short, Allan Wargon 1951 - producer Trade Fair - documentary short, Robert Anderson 1952 - producer Warp and Weft - documentary short, Betty Brunke 1952 - producer Age of the Beaver - documentary short, Colin Low 1952 - producer The Romance of Transportation in Canada, Colin Low 1952 - producer The Newcomers - documentary short, David Bennett 1953 - producer Varley - documentary short, Allan Wargon 1953 - producer Winter in Canada - documentary short, Guy L. Coté 1953 - producer Dick Hickey - Blacksmith - documentary short, David Bennett 1953 - executive producer Canadian Notebook - documentary short, David Bennett 1953 - producer Paul Tomkowicz: Street-railway Switchman - documentary short, Roman Kroitor 1953 - editor, co-producer with Roman Kroitor Shyness - documentary, Stanley Jackson 1953 - producer Rescue Party - training film, Roman Kroitor 1953 - producer A Shocking Affair - animated short, Laurence Hyde 1953 - executive producer Poison Ivy Picnic - animated short, Laurence Hyde 1953 - producer Corral - documentary short 1954 - producer A Thousand Million Years - animated short, Colin Low 1954 - producer The Homeless Ones - documentary short, Leslie McFarlane 1954 - executive producer The Magnificent - documentary short, Julian Biggs 1954 - editor Salt Cod - documentary short, Allan Wargon 1954 - producer One Little Indian - puppet film, Grant Munro 1954 - co-producer with Colin Low Look Before You Leap - animated short, Laurence Hyde 1954 - executive producer Physical Regions of Canada - documentary short 1954 - producer, director Mountains of the West - documentary short, Donald Fraser 1954 - executive producer Iron from the North - documentary short, Walford Hewitson 1955 - producer No Longer Vanishing - documentary short, Grant McLean 1955 - producer The Structure of Unions - animated short, Morten Parker 1955 - executive producer Riches of the Earth - documentary short, Colin Low 1955 - producer Grain Handling in Canada - documentary short, Guy L. Coté 1955 - producer Look Alert, Stay Unhurt - short film, Gordon Burwash 1955 - editor Gold - documentary short, Colin Low 1955 - producer Farm Calendar - documentary short, Roman Kroitor 1955 - producer The Jolifou Inn - documentary short, Colin Low 1955 - producer To Serve the Mind - short film, Stanley Jackson 1955 - producer Canadian Venture - documentary, Caryl Doncaster 1956 - producer Introducing Canada - documentary short 1956 - producer, director, co-editor with Roman Kroitor Forest Fire Suppression - documentary short, Lawrence Cherry 1956 - producer The Great Lakes - St Lawrence Lowlands - documentary short, Betty Brunke 1956 - producer City of Gold - documentary short, Colin Low and Wolf Koenig 1957 - editor, producer The Great Plains - documentary short, Roman Kroitor 1957 - producer It's a Crime - animated short, Wolf Koenig 1957 - producer Carpenters of the Forest - documentary short, Heinz Sielmann 1957 - executive producer Blue Vanguard: Revised - documentary, Ian MacNeill 1957 - producer The Atlantic Region - documentary short, Donald Fraser 1957 - producer Canadian Profile - documentary, Allan Wargon 1957 - producer The Precambrian Shield - documentary short, David Bennett 1957 - producer Profile of a Problem Drinker - documentary short, Stanley Jackson 1957 - producer Putting it Straight - documentary short, William Greaves 1957 - producer Looking Beyond...Story of a Film Council - documentary short, Stanley Jackson 1958 - producer High Arctic: Life on the Land - documentary, Dalton Muir 1958 - executive producer The Changing Forest - documentary short, Maurice Constant 1958 - executive producer The Face of the High Arctic - documentary short, Dalton Muir 1958 - executive producer Railroaders - documentary short, Guy L. Coté 1958 - executive producer